What we love…

audio with all sorts of different character names and vocabulary, narration when words are touched

What we’d love to see…

ability to slow down the pages in autoplay so kids can engage with them more more easily

Summary

Perfect for early elementary school kids who are just learning to read as well as preschool. Highly recommend it for younger children and those beginning to read.

Our Rating

In the true tradition of Oceanhouse Media book apps, Dr. Seuss’s ABC is a rich, engaging, vibrant rendition of the book. The graphics are brightly animated and encourage the child to touch, tap and repeat. The children can hear or read the little vignettes associated with each letter of the alphabet and are encouraged to seek out hidden words and stars that lead them to alphabet game play. I suggest this book for younger children or those just beginning to learn to read.

On the home page, there is access to a drop down menu, depicted by a book icon. When you touch the book, an icon toolbar is revealed. On this task bar, you will find buttons for other Dr. Seuss apps, the Parent section, the Settings and a page by page layout of the ABC book itself. The external buttons are protected, but only by a swipe; the settings are not protected with a parental gate. The Parent section explains the objectives of the app and lets you see and reset the reading stats (minutes read, pages read and book read). There are also links on this page to Help and FAQ (support and contact info), and info about Oceanhouse Media, Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the Seussville web site.

The settings option allows customizing the app for mode of play and the different interactive elements (activities, music and sound, news and alerts, picture words). These elements can be turned on and off and reset (I do not suggest turning the Picture Words off as this is a very engaging and educational part of the app).

The app features three different modes of play: Read to Me, Read it Myself, and Auto Play. In Read to Me, a pleasant voice reads the page and waits for the child to turn the page manually by tapping the forward moving arrow. In Read by Myself, there is no voice over and the child turns the page at will. If they are emergent readers, and get stuck on a word, there is the option to tap the word and have it read to you. Auto Play reads and flips the pages automatically. The script on the pages are animated and the children are encourage to find the hidden star (which leads them to game play) by tapping on the page. There is a small replay button located next to the text, so the page can be reread. Each page is turned by tapping the arrow that points right. There is an arrow on the left to return to the previous page. Once the child or parent has heard the words, the child has the chance to touch various objects on the page to hear words and to find a star.

In Auto Play the story is read to you and the pages are turned automatically. In the settings there is a switch to “delay page turning”. If this is not selected the pages turn quickly and don’t give the child a whole lot of time to touch and explore. On the top of the Auto Play pages there is a circle, which when pressed for 5 seconds, turns off Auto Play.

When a star is tapped, one of a variety of different letter games appears; Smart Start: Tap the animal that begins with the letter; Big Letters: find the big letter; Little Letters: find the little letter; Big and Little: Find the big or little letter; Super Sort: Drag each letter to the corresponding box. Games are short and maintain the child’s attention. There is no negative feedback for incorrect responses.

I really love the audio portion of this app. The pages are laden with unique alliterations for the character names (Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz, Rosy Robin Ross) and rich in vocabulary. Each word is individually narrated when touched, so I child can be prompted to press a word you suggest or to replay any word they choose. One thing that I really like on each page is that when the child taps on a picture of a word in the story, the corresponding word changes color in the script. I really like that there is the ability to reset the stats, hints and learning activities. This way, the app can be reused for different children or even for the same child to do the activities more that once. The app is full of engaging graphics, vibrant colors, and animated characters. The kids love the funny looking creatures and make believe names. There are multiple exposures to the pre-literacy skills of phonemic awareness and rhyming; a much loved aspect of all Dr. Seuss’s works. A very interesting addition to this app, is that it incorporates a higher level of vocabulary and nonsense words. This helps to enhance the sound- symbol connections and allows the children the chance to decode a blend phonemes. When the child taps a picture corresponding to a word in the story, the word changes color, combining auditory and visual feedback. You can also hear single words or the whole page read again. I really enjoyed the ability to reset the stats, hints and learning activities. This way, the app can be reused for different children or even for the same child to do the activities more that once.

As with all other Dr. Seuss books, the pre-literacy skills are fabulously addressed. The concepts of rhyming and phonemic awareness are dealt with on each page. The presenting voice is pleasant and she enunciates each phoneme clearly and with intonation.

I am a big fan of the Oceanhouse Media Dr. Seuss Book apps. Dr. Seuss’s ABC is no exception. From the vibrant graphics and the animated characters, to the Learning activities and the script, each page is engaging and educational. I give this app a 5 star rating and highly recommend it for younger children and those beginning to read. Like most of the other Dr. Seuss books adapted by Oceanhouse Media, the interface is very user friendly. The Learning Activities are quick and engaging. All responses are spoken, whether correct or incorrect, so the appearance of negative feedback is not present.

Screenshots

Screenshots for iPad

Lisa is a Speech Language Pathologist who has been working in an inclusive school system for over 32 years. She works with children that have issues in all areas of speech and language. She loves her work and is always looking for ways to integrate technology.

Links

Amazon

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The iMums - Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace - are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to informing parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways! Read more.

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